Posts tagged: DC punk

Two blasts from the past last night—old friend Chuck Treece played with his band McRad at DC9; the event was a screening of a trailer for a documentary about HR, singer of the legendary Bad Brains. I first met Chuck when McRad played a skate contest we held in St. Mary’s County, Maryland in the 80s. Later I booked him (in McRad and Underdog) at the Safari Club in DC and always tried to see him in all of his musical endeavors (Disposable Heroes of Hiphopracy, the Goats, Consolidated, etc.) I interviewed HR two years ago for Swindle Magazine’s icons issue. He seemed out-of-it at that time but was more lucid last night. It was a genuine honor to be in the presence of such great talents. The movie looked good, HR’s reggae set was short and sweet, and Chuck rocked the guitar like no other, as usual. Supporting yourself as an artist is not for the weak-of-heart or stomach, and I admire people who never give up their dreams. Last night provided a good dose of inspiration for me.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4gtig3eyvw]It’s a new year and there’s a lot to look forward to, but still I find myself looking back, at friends lost, places I’ve lived, experiences shared. I blame it on facebook! All in all, it’s been a really cool thing to reconnect with familiar faces on there. There are still a few who fly under the radar, but I trust the universe will have us crossing paths again one day.

As I pack to move back to my old stomping grounds (the DC/Baltimore area), I’m stumbling across all kinds of artifacts from back-in-the-day, one being this silly little film project I did as a student at American University. It was made to prove to the LA marketing company I interned with that I was promoting their bands all over DC–“my scene.” I ditched the idea of working for the “music industry” soon after; it was way more fun to just hang out & interview bands! If they can forgive the pixelation and my 90s-style threads, old punks may get a kick out of footage of the old 9:30 Club (now condos), the Safari Club (now a mall in Chinatown), the Back Alley Cafe, Freedom Plaza (skater haven), the graffiti-lovers’ Amtrak tunnel better known as the Wall of Fame, and the bands H2O, Crown of Thorns and Outcrowd.

I have a ton of flyers, set lists and other ephemera from these years, but they’ll all be included in my upcoming book, Girl in the Pit. The only thing I’m missing is photos, which I’ll need help with. If you or anyone you know has original pics of any of the following and would like to be published, please get in touch! Here’s my table-of-contents for interviews & wishlist for photos:

Jane Wieldin

Warzone

The Adolescents

Steve Albini

Social Distortion*

Dr. Know

Agnostic Front

Avail*

Sick of It All*

Ray Cappo

H2O

Brian Baker

Greg Graffin

Greg Ginn

Jello Biafra

Samantha Maloney

Joe Strummer

Keith Morris

The Bouncing Souls

Henry Rollins*

Gwar

C.O.C.

IanMacKaye

* denotes people I have photos of, but you may have better ones, so send me an email!